Can someone educate me?

[dubdub]

Okay, can someone just educate me about E30 lighting?

I've owned 2 E30s for a total of over 14 years, but the one thing that has alwasy eluded me is a real firm understanding of what the best lighting option is.

What are city lights, or smilies, or HIDs... I just want the lights that will make driving at night safer... what puts the most light on the roads?

I upgraded both cars from sealed beams to the H1/H4 lights that classicgarage.com sells... but did so because it was a simple option and cheap.

What is really the best option out there... and where can I get it?

[jw 325ic]

Smilies are just euro ellipsoids (early style projectors). US ellipsoids are easier to find and cheaper and take 9006/9005 bulbs for low/hi beams respectively. Smilies use h1s i believe (not sure). But you can get 55w HIDs from ddmtuning for roughly $50 shipped and lught the road up fine.

[Vivek]

The best option for safety is gonna be new ellipsoids with HID's. Even Depo's reflect the light pretty well. On 20 year old lights, the reflectors are gonna be pitted and faded, and may only actually reflect a fraction of the bulb's light.

[spike68]

So Im going to try and answer this at the best of my ability, as your questions is broad, yet specific. Feel free to tell me if i didnt answer any parts of your question(s).
First off, city lights, smiles (smileys is the correct term), and HIDs.
City lights and smileys fall into the same category, as they are part of the same headlight housing. Smileys refer to the european version of the e30 projector headlights. They're called smileys because of the smile the face of the headlight looks to give, unlike the US spec headlights which do not have the smile. People prefer this type of headlight because of the city light, which is a small bulb that sits in the top of the housing that lights up with the parking lights and illuminates very nicely. Google it for more details.

Now HIDs are a completely different subject. Theyre a type of bulb that gives off a different type of light than the traditional. I dont know the full details, but you can customize these by choosing different colors and bightnesses. They come standard on newer vehicles too.

Now as far as what YOUR preferences are, dont even worry about grabbing smileys, uness you like the way they look. If you simply want something that makes night driving safer, you made the right choice by upgrading to the projector headlights. You have the choice to upgrade your bulbs to HIDs, which could potentially give better visibility as the bulbs are brighter. at least they are to me. I would simply stay away from the colored bulbs thought. people think they look cool, but in some cases they can decrease your visibility. I settled for 5k HIDs, which is a pure white color. I have noticed a significant increase in bightness, but it you want to get the brightness with a stock look, then stay under the 5k range. You can get these almost anywhere, but get quality ones. No autozone brands...they suck.
just google HID stores in your area. Im sure you can find places.

Did i miss anything?
And did that help?

[bmwguy325is]

You have already found one good upgrade for lighting on E30s. The swap from sealed beams is a good one.
As noted above the ellipsoid US marked headlamps are better because the use an H1 bulb and a projector.
The Euro lights or smiles are a better lamp in my opinion. I have owned both euro and US and the E code lamps with high end bulbs are the best option.
I have on my car the smoked E code lamps with Hella High performace bulbs. 55w on the lows and 100w on the highs.
As for the change to HIDs dont do it. Its a case of putting a square peg in a round hole. Look at it this way. If it was such a great upgrade why do companies like Hella, Sylvania, or Narvia NOT make HID swaps for older cars?
E30 tuner people think its all ok to do this cause E30s have projectors and most cars that come with HIDs have projectors. They are wrong.

[straight6pwr]

As for the change to HIDs dont do it. Its a case of putting a square peg in a round hole. Look at it this way. If it was such a great upgrade why do companies like Hella, Sylvania, or Narvia NOT make HID swaps for older cars?
E30 tuner people think its all ok to do this cause E30s have projectors and most cars that come with HIDs have projectors. They are wrong.

what did you think is wrong with them? you didnt back up your statement that it is wrong with any reasons whatsoever.

the projectors for e30s (US spec and european spec) handle HID bulbs just fine, and they are a really good upgrade. you get much more light on the road, you arent blinding oncoming traffic any more than with the stock bulbs, and there is no risk of melting anything.

IMHO, good condition US ellipsoids with 35w 4300k is the best (and safest) light output for an e30. the uptick on the euros spreads more light into the eyes of other motorists, as little as it may be.

stock sealed beams = suck
stock projectors = acceptable
stock projectors with HIDs = omg i can see the road

[bmwguy325is]

what did you think is wrong with them? you didnt back up your statement that it is wrong with any reasons whatsoever.....

stock sealed beams = suck
stock projectors = acceptable
stock projectors with HIDs = Bad Idea

This was my reason:

...If it was such a great upgrade why do companies like Hella, Sylvania, or Narvia NOT make HID swaps for older cars?...

I had a set of HIDs with modified Hella Ballasts In euro lights. Sure things are super bright ohhhh 20 feet in front of the car. But not at great distance. The light scatters to much and has no real focus. It all has to do with the wave length of the light emitted from the bulb. Look it up. All the tuners talk about cut of this cut off that. Yes projectors have a cut off. They have to for E code lights. My Jeep with E codes has a cut off. The other thing is its illegal. Ya I know you wont get caught blah blah blah. Me I dont like to give cops reasons to pull me over. If anything they can pull me over for blue colored lights which is a law here. If you want search around the DOT and NTHSB websites you will find it.
This is the best write up http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html
take it as you may. Serious people consult him about lights so ya....
So again I recommend High end light bulbs and E code headlamps and a good set of fog lights to aid those lamp.

[iansane]

I upgraded both cars from sealed beams to the H1/H4 lights that classicgarage.com sells... but did so because it was a simple option and cheap.

I'm going to guess these aren't projectors, but that they're free form housings with fluted lenses? Like this;

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=733

Those are usually better than standard sealed beams but there are a large notch below elipsoids/projectors.

What are city lights, or smilies, or HIDs... I just want the lights that will make driving at night safer... what puts the most light on the roads?

I upgraded both cars from sealed beams to the H1/H4 lights that classicgarage.com sells... but did so because it was a simple option and cheap.

City lights are just the small 194 style bulb that mounts inside the headlight housing. It illuminates the headlight when you turn the parking lights on. I would presume for more visibility from other cars and I think it looks cool.

Smilies are the euro projector assembly.

HIDs are a form of headlight capsule. First there were incandescent bulbs with a filament surrounded by a vacuum. Then halogens came about with their filament surrounded by inert gases. Hotter filaments, more life, more light output. Then came HIDs. HIDs doesn't have any filament whatsoever. They function similarly to fluorescent tubes.

If it was such a great upgrade why do companies like Hella, Sylvania, or Narvia NOT make HID swaps for older cars?
E30 tuner people think its all ok to do this cause E30s have projectors and most cars that come with HIDs have projectors. They are wrong.

No, you're wrong. I can't speak for Narvia or Hella but Sylvania DOES make HID setups for older cars. Unless you're talking about drop in kits like DDM tuning and such make. Those are by and large illegal. Which is why you don't see big name companies making them. Dropping those in a free form housing creates random scatter. It's not as bad (actually almost non existent) on a car with projectors/ellipsoids and that's probably why so many e30 guys do it. It puts out a shit ton of light, sometimes double the lumen output of a regular halogen.

[bmwguy325is]

No, you're wrong. I can't speak for Narvia or Hella but Sylvania DOES make HID setups for older cars. Unless you're talking about drop in kits like DDM tuning and such make. Those are by and large illegal. Which is why you don't see big name companies making them. Dropping those in a free form housing creates random scatter. It's not as bad (actually almost non existent) on a car with projectors/ellipsoids and that's probably why so many e30 guys do it. It puts out a shit ton of light, sometimes double the lumen output of a regular halogen.

^---Finally someone who gets its. And yes I meant the drop in kits.
I do like that you linked rallylights. Those guys know lights for sure.

[BlkD12agon]

What about these from umnitza and is this a good price or about average price?

http://www.umnitza.com/euro-projector-headlights-smiley-p-1223.html

[bmwguy325is]

What about these from umnitza and is this a good price or about average price?

http://www.umnitza.com/euro-projecto...ey-p-1223.html

Go Hella or go home is what I say.
Plus I wont buy from any online retailer that sales HID "upgrades" *see above*
Its like paying rent for the drug dealers.

[BlkD12agon]

hahaha right on. I'll look into the Hella's also.

[bmwguy325is]

hahaha right on. I'll look into the Hella's also.

I hear the depot replicas and the ones from EUROStop are decent.